Saturday, December 22, 2012

Legally fired for being too attractive...

If this doesn't make you shake your head, nothing will. According to the (all male) Iowa Supreme Court, a boss can fire a female employee who has committed no infraction for the offense of being -- wait for it -- too pretty. And that is not unlawful discrimination.

The court ruled 7-0 that bosses can fire employees they see as an
"irresistible attraction," even if the employees have not engaged in
flirtatious behavior or otherwise done anything wrong. Such firings may
be unfair, but they are not unlawful discrimination under the Iowa Civil
Rights Act because they are motivated by feelings and emotions, not
gender, Justice Edward Mansfield wrote.

An attorney for Fort Dodge dentist James Knight said the
decision, the first of its kind in Iowa, is a victory for family values
because Knight fired Melissa Nelson in the interest of saving his
marriage, not because she was a woman.

If a woman is too pretty, she is a threat to her boss' marriage and can be fired accordingly. The boss has no responsibility to keep his own "feelings and emotions" under control, because it isn't unlawful discrimination if he fires her. I'm sure that, though, like pay inequalities between the genders, is ultimately just the fault of women. If only Mrs. Nelson had the good sense to be unattractive, or not her boss' type, then she would still have her job.

Oh, and the icing on this cake? The firing was sanctioned by Knight's pastor.

The Knights consulted with their pastor, who agreed that terminating Nelson was appropriate.

Not only is it not the man's legal responsibility to control himself, it's also apparently not his moral responsibility. Now there's an anomaly...religion holding women accountable for men's behavior...imagine that!